Bringing the Railway to Daming

Chapter 283: Pirates guard the country's borders, bandits die for the country! [Subscribe]

"Emperor Yongli later bestowed upon Zheng Chenggong the title of Prince of Yanping. He led his troops to inflict numerous defeats on Qing troops in Fujian and Guangdong, and repeatedly refused pleas for surrender."

"He twice sent troops to join forces with Zhang Mingzhen's army and march north to attack the Yangtze River, and also communicated with Li Dingguo."

"In the 13th year of the Yongli reign, he again joined forces with Zhang Huangyan and marched into the Yangtze River, captured Guazhou, took Zhenjiang, and besieged Jiangning (Nanjing), shocking the Qing court. However, due to a series of victories, he underestimated the enemy and was defeated and retreated to Simingzhou."

In the 1661th year of the Yongli reign (38), he led an army of into Dongfan Island and captured Chikan Fort and Fort Zeelandia built by the Dutch on Dongfan Island, thus reclaiming Dongfan Island, which had been occupied by the Dutch for years.

In the 1662th year of the Yongli reign (), Zheng Chenggong first heard the tragic news that his father, Zheng Zhilong, had been beheaded. Then, his legitimate son, Zheng Jing, had an affair with his fourth brother's wet nurse. Amidst internal and external pressures, Zheng Chenggong fell ill and died at the age of .

At this point, the second soundtrack of the video also reached its climax.

"Look at the clanging of iron hooves, trampling across vast rivers and mountains. I stand on the crest of the wave, holding on tightly, as the sun and moon rotate!" (The previous text has been revised, you can read it back)
"The world is flooded with blood, and I want to live in peace and happiness. I really want to live another five hundred years! I really want to live another five hundred years——!"

Listening to the song and watching the video of Zheng Chenggong leading the Ming army in one northern expedition after another, suffering repeated defeats until he was finally seriously ill and lying in bed dying, everyone in the Zhu family, except those who were too young, was moved.

At this time, the last few paragraphs about Zheng Chenggong in the video also appeared one by one -

"Zheng Chenggong, despite his illness, remained mentally alert and, before his death, he cried out, 'I have no face to see the late emperor in the underworld!' He scratched his face and died."

Although Zheng Chenggong failed in his resistance against the Qing, he conquered the Eastern Frontier and was regarded as a national hero. Later generations of scholars wrote a long couplet to commemorate him:

"Even if the island is unique and unique, and mountains are moved and the sea is filled, the survival of the country depends on it for three hundred years. I will imitate Jizi and compare myself to Tian Heng. The patriots have worked hard and left their integrity to Jiaoyang."

"He is the most perfect man of his generation. He rose from poverty and supported the weak. For seventeen years, he dedicated himself to the cause, filling the Dian Sea and connecting the Zhejiang River. He is a hero who will never die, but his courage and generosity will shine on the waves!"

Seeing this, the video content about Zheng Chenggong ended and the second part began, but Lao Zhu leaned over and paused the video.

He said, "Tell us a little bit about the story of Zheng Chenggong."

Liu Kuan was not surprised to see that Zhu wanted to know more about Zheng Chenggong's life.

He said, "Zheng Chenggong was the eldest son of the great Ming pirate Zheng Zhilong, whose real name was Zheng Sen. His father, Zheng Zhilong, was a pirate himself, and later nearly unified the pirate forces along the southeastern coast of the Ming Dynasty. He surrendered to the imperial court in the early years of the Chongzhen Emperor, and rose to the rank of Vice Governor and Commander-in-Chief of Fujian."

"Zheng Sen studied at the Imperial Academy in Nanjing and became a disciple of Qian Qianyi, a famous scholar in Jiangzuo at the time."

"After the fall of Beijing, the Hongguang Dynasty, the first Southern Ming dynasty, was established. To appease Zheng Zhilong, the Hongguang Emperor conferred him the title of Earl of Nan'an."

"The Qing army marched southward, and the Hongguang court was destroyed within a year. The provinces south of the Yangtze River were also successively conquered by the Qing army..."

Upon hearing this, Prince Jin Zhu Ying couldn't help but interject, "The Southern Ming perished in less than a year? The Zhao Song Dynasty managed to hold out for over a hundred years after migrating south..."

"Third Brother!" Zhu Yuanzhang shouted, "If you have any questions, wait until Liu Kuan finishes speaking!"

Zhu Ying had no choice but to shut up.

Liu Kuan knew that Zhu Yuanzhang was afraid that he would reveal something that other princes should not know, so he spoke more carefully next time.

He said: "After the Qing army entered the south of the Yangtze River, it was unstoppable. Under such circumstances, Zheng Sen's teacher Qian Qianyi surrendered to the Qing in Nanjing. Later, Zheng Sen's father Zheng Zhilong was persuaded by Qing officials to lead his troops to surrender to the Qing."

"But at the time, the Zheng family was the main force supporting the establishment of the Longwu Dynasty, the second Southern Ming dynasty. Therefore, some members of the Zheng family were unwilling to surrender to the Qing Dynasty, and thus the family split."

"The pro-Qing faction, led by Zheng Zhilong, was taken to Beijing under house arrest by the Qing army under the pretext of a reward; the anti-Qing faction, led by Zheng Sen, fought against the Qing for more than a decade along the southeastern coast."

"Emperor Longwu was considered the most courageous and capable of the Southern Ming emperors. It was he who appreciated Zheng Sen and bestowed upon him the imperial surname Zhu and the given name Chenggong. Therefore, although later generations commonly referred to Zheng Sen as Zheng Chenggong, at the time he was actually known as Zhu Chenggong."

"As for Zheng Chenggong's subsequent resistance against the Qing Dynasty and the recovery of Dongfan Island, it has been covered in the video just now, so I will not elaborate further."

After Liu Kuan finished speaking, the others were still lost in thought. Zhu Di couldn't help but sigh, "Zheng Chenggong was indeed loyal to the Ming Dynasty, but his military ability was somewhat lacking. He was even besieging Nanjing, but he was defeated because of his consecutive victories and underestimated the enemy. What a pity."

Zhu Yuanzhang also felt that it was a pity that Zheng Chenggong failed in his last northern expedition, but he considered the issue more comprehensively.

Especially when he thought that the emperors of the Southern Ming Dynasty were all descendants of Zhu Di and none of them could defend the Southern Ming Dynasty for a few years, he became inexplicably angry when he heard Zhu Di's words.

He glared at Zhu Di and said, "During the first Southern Ming dynasty, the Qing army had yet to cross the Yangtze River, and the Hongguang Dynasty couldn't even hold out for a year. Zheng Chenggong raised his army along the coast, so he was inevitably short of troops. Furthermore, he brought together various righteous armies, most of which had different orders and were full of internal corruption."

"Under these circumstances, winning battle after battle is already difficult, but the overall situation is determined. If he loses just one battle, the Northern Expedition will fail. In this situation, even if we let you go, your performance may not be much better than his!"

Zhu Di then remembered that most of the incompetent emperors of the Southern Ming were his descendants, so he lowered his head and said, "Father is right."

But he was a little unwilling to give up, so he said, "Third brother-in-law, Emperor Longwu does sound good. Could you tell me about his deeds?"

"It seems that Zhu Di wants to use the descendant of Emperor Longwu to save some face. But knowing the deeds of Emperor Longwu will only make Zhu Di even angrier. But since Zhu Di asked me to tell you, I can't help but tell you."

Thinking of this, Liu Kuan said, "Emperor Longwu was originally from the Tang Dynasty. His grandfather favored a son born to a concubine and wanted to abolish his father's position as the crown prince. So he imprisoned both father and son and intended to starve them to death."

"Thanks to a minor official who secretly helped deliver some brown rice, Emperor Longwu and his son were able to barely survive."

After hearing just the beginning, the Zhu family stared in surprise.

Pampering a concubine to give birth to a child, but starving the legitimate son and eldest grandson to death?

Who the hell is this person? !
Zhu Yuanzhang turned his head and his eyes slashed at Zhu Di like a knife.

Zhu Di was filled with regret, thinking to himself: Why am I so ungrateful that I had to ask about that Longwu Emperor? And Liu Kuan, too, couldn't he just keep this a secret? He didn't even bother to give me some face.

"Although Emperor Longwu lived in captivity for sixteen years, he never ceased to study and held high aspirations. Later, when the old Tang prince was nearing death, the son born to the concubine poisoned Emperor Longwu's father." "The old Tang prince wanted to make the concubine's son his crown prince, but was warned by local officials and forced to give up. After the old Tang prince died, Emperor Longwu was able to ascend the throne as Tang prince."

"After ascending the throne, the Prince of Tang showed his aggressiveness, frequently clashing with Emperor Chongzhen over the issue of the imperial clan. Later, when the Qing army besieged Beijing, he disregarded imperial regulations, recruited soldiers, and led thousands of guards north to defend the emperor, but was stopped by peasant rebels along the way."

"After the siege of Beijing was lifted, Emperor Chongzhen learned of this and, fearing it, demoted Emperor Longwu to a commoner and imprisoned him within the walls of Fengyang. This time, his imprisonment lasted another seven years."

"When Beijing fell, Chongzhen hanged himself to death. A small number of officials at the time valued the ability of Emperor Longwu and wanted to bring him out from behind the walls of Fengyang to succeed him as emperor."

"But at that time, the power of Fu Wang's lineage was greater, and they took the initiative and allowed Fu Wang to ascend the throne as Emperor Hongguang."

Hearing this, both Zhu Yuanzhang and Zhu Biao remembered that Liu Kuan once said that the first Prince Fu was the son of Emperor Wanli's favorite concubine. Unofficial history said that because he was too fat, he was prepared a Fu Lu Banquet and eaten by Li Zicheng's peasant army.

Although unofficial history is unreliable, it also shows that the lineage of Prince Fu was unpopular.

Unexpectedly, most of the ministers of the Southern Ming Dynasty supported Prince Fu as emperor. One can imagine what they were thinking.

"Although Emperor Longwu was not able to ascend the throne at that time, he was released, his title of King of Tang was restored, and he was moved to Jiangnan along with other vassal kings."

"Later, the Hongguang court collapsed, and Prince Lu, who had a higher rank than Prince Tang, surrendered directly to the Qing. Prince Tang then received support from the Zheng family and ascended the throne in Fujian."

"Unfortunately, the Longwu Dynasty didn't have many troops at the time, and there was internal strife between the Zheng family and other factions. Even the Southern Ming Dynasty had several small dynasties established one after another, such as the Lu Wang Jianguo and the Yongli Dynasty. It was difficult to unify the Southern Ming forces, so they were defeated in less than a year."

After listening to Liu Kuan's account of Emperor Longwu, Zhu Yuanzhang could not help but snort angrily, "This Chongzhen is truly incompetent—not only is he trapped in Beijing, but he even failed to consider sending the crown prince or other princes to Jiangnan. If the Southern Ming had a prince in charge, why would this happen?"

"And the Southern Ming emperor and his ministers, aside from a few like Longwu and Zheng Chenggong, were mostly insects! They were on the verge of destruction, yet they were still trapped in internal strife. How foolish!"

At the end, Zhu Yuanzhang glared at Zhu Di again, wishing he could pull him over and beat him up on the spot.

Zhu Biao was worried that the conversation would get too deep and difficult to resolve, so he asked, "Brother-in-law, could these three pillars of the Southern Ming Dynasty refer to three loyal and brave men like Zheng Chenggong?"

Liu Kuan nodded, "You can say that."

"Father, how about we continue watching the video and learn about the deeds of the other two pillars of the Southern Ming Dynasty?"

Zhu Yuanzhang also knew that now was not the time to teach Zhu Di a lesson, so he said, "Let him go."

Liu Kuan touched the screen to continue playing the video.

The subtitle of the video had changed. Old Zhu, Zhu Biao, and the others took a closer look. It read: "A lone and loyal man, with a single, unwavering resolve, holds a tree in his hand, attempting to support the heavens!" [The famous king who defeated two people—Li Dingguo!]

These two short lines of poetry made Zhu Yuanzhang and others realize the difficult situation of the Southern Ming Dynasty.

The video starts with the same background music (Hanging and Drowning) that was played before.

At the same time, Li Dingguo, played by He Zhonghua, appeared in the camera.

"Listen up, my men! After we defeated the enemy at Guilin and Shuangfeng Mountain, and slew the two kings, Kong Youde and Nikan, the forces of Zhu Chenggong, the King of Yanping in Southern Fujian, and Zhang Huangyan from Zhoushan have joined forces and are marching into the Yangtze River."

"Our two armies should seize this great victory and march north to drive out the Tartar invaders and reclaim our homeland!"

"Li Dingguo, the Ming Dynasty is doomed, and a change of dynasty is inevitable. Why do you have to go against the will of heaven?"

"···"

This video is shorter, and it mainly talks about Li Dingguo's two defeats of famous kings, the failure of the Northern Expedition, and his death from illness in Mengla.

At the end of the video, there are also paragraphs of handwriting introducing Li Dingguo's life.

"Li Dingguo, a native of Yulin, Shaanxi, was born into a farming family. In the third year of Chongzhen's reign, Zhang Xianzhong led an uprising of famine victims in northern Shaanxi. He adopted the young Li Dingguo as his son and changed his surname to Zhang."

"Li Dingguo fought alongside Zhang Xianzhong for over a decade, performing numerous feats. After Zhang Xianzhong was killed by the Qing army, he and his three adopted sons decided to submit to the Southern Ming court and join forces to resist the Qing."

"In the sixth year of the Yongli reign, Li Dingguo sent 80,000 troops to attack Hunan. He first captured Yuanzhou and Jingzhou, then attacked Guilin, defeating the Qing army and forcing the Qing commander Kong Youde to commit suicide..."

As the text was introduced one by one, Lao Zhu, Zhu Biao and others all looked surprised.

After watching the previous video and hearing people call Li Dingguo the Prince of Jin, they thought that he came from a family of noble generals who had been blessed by the world. They didn't expect that he came from the peasant Ming army that rebelled against the Ming Dynasty!

Did the Nong Ming Army, originally opposed to the Ming Dynasty, eventually join the Southern Ming court in resisting the Qing Dynasty? And even become the main force and pillar of the anti-Qing resistance?
This is really hard to imagine.

Soon, the video came to the end.

In the first year of the Kangxi reign of the Qing Dynasty (1662), Wu Sangui led his troops into Burma, forced the Burmese king to hand over the Yongli Emperor, brought him back to Kunming, and strangled him with a bowstring, thus bringing down the Southern Ming Dynasty.

In June of the same year, the ailing Li Dingguo heard the news in Mengla and wept bitterly, wailing and clamoring for land, tears streaming down his face. He said, "I have let the Ming Dynasty down, and I have let the emperor down. How can I face the world?"

"Half a month after the Yongli Emperor's death, Li Dingguo died of illness in Mengla. Before his death, he still told his son and subordinates: I would rather die in the wilderness than surrender to the Qing!"

"Later generations wrote a poem to commemorate this event: 'The barbarian winds swept southward, bringing down all the grass; the king, for the greater good, abandoned suspicion and left Yunnan. He fought for thousands of miles, holding up half the sky with one hand. Zhuge Liang had no destiny to prolong the Han dynasty, and Wu Mu was unwilling to remain at Zhuxian."

"In times of turmoil, loyalty is revealed, and the country praises heroes from generation to generation. With a lone loyal heart and a firm will, he holds a piece of wood to support the sky..."

　First update.

　　
　　
　
(End of this chapter)